Help. I need to wash.

OK, it’s not that I mean I need help washing—promise! This post is about two separate subjects: help, as in I need some--in the form of a research assistant/intern--and washing, as in a lot of people have been asking how I wash my body and my home environmentally. First, about washing (but if you’re dying to be my intern you better scroll down fast!).

As you all know, a big part of the No Impact experiment is creating no trash. In particular, I have developed a little OCD when it comes to disposable products. I use a straight edge razor (great for removing pimples…joking!) and you all know about the cloth shopping bags. Another thing I’m finally getting rid of is the plastic bottles that shampoo, moisturizer and cleaning products come in.

I’ve already disposed of the toothpaste tubes thanks to baking soda (see I’m sacrificing my teeth to the environment). Also, my friend Vanessa who blogs at greenasathistle.com suggests Eco-Dent floss, which contains no animal products and comes in a recyclable cardboard container.

(Note to self: hurry up and stop using disposable pens, the last disposable product in our house. Get out all those fountain tips that your aunts and uncles gave you every Christmas.)

Before I tell you the how of my new washing regime, a little more about the why. Commercial shampoos and soaps and cleaning products have about umpteen million chemicals in them that are bad for the environment—bad for the drinking water, bad for aquatic life, just bad (is there a commenter out there who can give us the details of the bad chemicals?). A couple of days ago, the New York Times reported:

“Worries about water-borne chemicals flared last summer when researchers at the United States Geological Survey said they had discovered “intersex fish” in the Potomac River and its tributaries. The fish, smallmouth and largemouth bass, were male but nevertheless carried immature eggs.

Scientists who worked on the project said they did not know what was causing the situation, or even if it was a new phenomenon. But the discovery renewed fears that hormone residues or chemicals that mimic them might be affecting creatures that live in the water.”

On top of the pollution aspect, Michelle, my wife, is also concerned about Isabella coming into contact with the various toxins and carcinogens in the cleaning products. Michelle has this idea that two-year-olds shouldn’t drink things with words on the label like chloro or fluoro or sulphate. Add to these reasons my love of a good chemistry experiment and away we go.

First off, we had been using the eco-products you buy from health food stores (see below), so I saved some empty bottles to put my own goop in and gave the half empty bottles to Peggy, Isabella’s babysitter. Then, I bought a big bottle of highly concentrated castile soap (I use Dr. Bronner's), which is biodegradable and contains only saponified organic vegetable oils, a big box of borax, a big bottle of white vinegar, and, thanks to my pearly whites, I already had the baking soda. Admittedly, the castile soap came in a plastic bottle (made from 100% recycled, that is), but I figure one plastic bottle is better than twenty. I’ll get around to making castile soap from olive oil myself later.

Now for the recipes:

Household cleanser—One quart water, 1 teaspoon borax, 2 tablespoons vinegar, 1 teaspoon castile soap (you can see my supplies will last until I’m about 76 and it’s way cheaper than store bought).

Soap—You can use castile soap but we’re using soap made from local beeswax and bought at the farmers' market.

Shampoo—Seven ounces of filtered water, one ounce castile soap, one teaspoon olive oil. [Since writing this post, I've decided I'm not a great fan of this recipe. I now use baking soda mixed with water. It doesn't suds but it cleans really well. NIM 6/28/07]

Dishwashing detergent—one measure castile soap to one measure water.

Of course, if you can’t be bothered to mix this stuff up, just go to your local health food store and buy the eco-products that are explicitly labeled “nontoxic” (an FDA term) and biodegradable, are plant rather than petroleum based (I avoid animal based products too), and contain no chlorine bleach, benzyne, toluene, xylene, trichlorethane or phosphates. Buy them concentrated and large to avoid extra plastic packaging.

==========

Drum roll, please…No Impact Man (otherwise known as little old me) is now accepting (otherwise known as begging for) applications for a research assistant/intern position. I’ll put you to work and for all that hard work I’ll pay you, um, nothing. Yeah, sorry, it’s an unpaid gig because I can’t afford to pay right now. [This position is no longer open. NIM 6/28/07]

What you’ll get is experience working with a three-time author, a chance to help him promote his ideas about acting like a good guest on this planet earth, and exposure to a lot of interesting people. Most importantly, you’ll no doubt get to meet Isabella and Frankie (if you want to win them over, Isabella likes muffins—not allowed in the NIM rules but no one will listen—and Frankie likes, well, anything).

What you’ll need to offer is ten hours a week of time, a smart brain, good communication skills, your own computer and a home or other space situation (in New York City) you can work in, a demonstrated interest in environmentalism and/or journalism, and a commitment to stick with it for a few months. Responsibilities will include research, phoning, and correspondence.

Interested? Send me a note and résumé at noimpactman[at]gmail[dot]com

 

Comments

[Ben Licher]

Love reading your blog! You do indeed need a researcher and stop using Borax:

Toxicity
Boric acid, sodium borate, and sodium perborate are estimated to have a fatal dose from 0.1 to 0.5g/kg.[3] These substances are toxic to all cells, and have a slow excretion rate through the kidneys. Kidney toxicity is the greatest, with liver fatty degeneration, cerebral edema, and gastroenteritis. Boric acid solutions used as an eye wash or on abraded skin are known to be especially toxic to infants, especially after repeated use due to its slow elimination rate.[4]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borax

[Gwyn]

A man who not only knows where the cleaning cupboard it, but has his own recipes...if you weren't married you would be fending suitors off with your empty toilet roll holder!

I am wondering, out loud, whether these enviro friendly cleaning products - bi card, vinegar, etc - are manufactured in enviro friendly ways? Are they naturally occuring and mined or are they synthetic, are there waste materials in the production process that Simpsonise fish? Are some brands to be avoided?

[Colin Beavan aka No Impact Man]

A good researcher would never rely on Wikipedia, Ben! It's a good place to start but without source verification, you can't be sure of it. So...

Borax is indeed slightly toxic but it is also kind to the environment and is recommended for use by the Sierra Club and others with much better credentials than me. The Sierra Club has a great cleaning tip sheet, by the way, at http://www.sierraclub.ca/national/programs/health-environment/pesticides/alternative-household-prod.pdf

As for whether the products I use are manufactured in bio-friendly ways, Dr Bronners is organic and fair trade. That's a start. I use 20 Mule Team Borax, Arm and Hammer Baking Soda and Best Yet distilled white vinegar. My research hasn't yet extended to their production--ecological or not--and I'd love to hear if anyone else knows.
All the best,
Colin aka No Impact Man

[Kanitpicker]

You haven't said anything about the effectiveness of these homemade solutions. What do you think?

[Colin Beavan aka No Impact Man]

Kanitpicker, I think they work great!
Colin aka No Impact Man

[kerry]

Just found you No Impact Man! I am in your tribe. I am No Impact Woman. I`ve been doing The Same Experiment for over fifteen years. As have many others. It is brilliant that you are galvanised suddenly to try it in New York on Fifth Avenue, & so very, very publicly. I love you & your wife & child. I can help you. You can help me. Together we can all help each other help the Earth... Please link to my blog on kerry`s My.EcoEarth.Info (which you can find via googling to Climate Ark)
I would love to be your researcher - you do need one... BUT I need one too!
I can offer 200 Euros per week plus accomodation in scenic Co.Kerry to any computer genious with time on his/her hands ... for 20hours p.w. HELP! Anyone? E-mail me on kerryemartin@hotmail.com.

Here follows this mornings blog response to reading through your whole blogsite in one go last night. Yes! It IS that inspiring!... I hope you haven`t got a character limit on your comments!
Please get "The Imagining" dusk switch off going in New York...

Switch Off Sundays... Power Down - Power Off!... Blackout Earth. The Imagining. Campaign For Electrical Rest.
Find the mains switch for your house.
Switch it off when you wake up on Sundays
- or any day that you choose.
Or any time that you choose.

Just try to make it a regular frequent event...
Leave it off for as long as you possibly can...
Even a few minutes electrical peace makes a difference & it really LETS THE EARTH KNOW THAT YOU CARE...
You will learn a lot if you regularly practice voluntary mains power cuts in your house.
Go on! TRY IT. Switch off!
How long do you last?
Even three minutes Switched Off will teach you something about yourself & your relationship with power.
The Internet - for example - is USELESS IN A POWER CUT!
Fully functionless in a flash flood...

Electric power is a profound & costly health damaging addiction. It is generally hostile to biological life.
It supports a range of fairly ridiculous non-Life forms whose well-being demands freedom from water & oxygen, the precious life-bloods of carbon-based biology.
Too much electricity, & too many of it`s functionally irrelevant technological progeny...
& we become merely the meaty bits of the machines. We cease to be ecologically integrated with our local biosphere. We become cut off from Life. We actively work against Life.
I fairly loathe electricity & all it`s gadgets [but am FORCED to compromise with it these days - so please don`t comment me about Dialysis Machines! I have heard it ALL from snipers, underminers, detractors & messenger shooters before!]
This loathing of electricity only came AFTER I lived for a long time [8 years] with out it.
Being without it for such a long time changed my nervous system.
It altered my brain. It re-lated my personal little sensitive bio-electric me to the larger bio-electric field of M.E. aka "GAiA
- The Living Earth.
I became plugged in to Life in a "new" & curious way.
Coming off the techno-electric habit plugged me in to the bio-electric internet.
The One Living Body-Mind of the One Living Earth...

Digression - [These may be Fringe Radical Wierd concepts for you. I don`t want to put anyone off the Switch Off campaigns with much-too-whacky ideas or much-too-extreme-efforts. No-body HAS to be as whacky or extreme as me. I only want to inspire YOU to do what you can, starting where you are now.

This work is about all about getting every body`s energy & attention & effort to move in certain DIRECTIONS, starting exactly where every body currently stands, & moving forwards at exactly the speeds that everybody`s bodies can stand & thus building collective social & global momentum.

It is NOT, & NEVER WILL BE, about being Holier Than Thou, or more or less Superior or Self-Righteous, or getting there quicker by riding roughshod over people`s ideas, feelings, weaknesses & handicaps.

Every extra little grain of sand helps to tip the balances - so NEVER think that a multitude of tiny gestures are not as valuable as huge ones - T`was a STRAW that broke the camel if you recall, & it could be your FIRST three minute switch off gesture that finally defeats the spirit of the Planet Wreckers...

Bear in mind that these "whacky" & "extreme" ideas of mine, & their associated experiential phenomena, of the Livingness of Earth, & the reality of the Biological Internet [aka the subtle Bioelectric Intelligence Field aka the Gaia Body-Mind] are not the slightest bit whacky or extreme to the remaining indigenous forest peoples of this Earth.
Ask the rainforest indian shamen if they can hear the spirit of the Earth & talk with her...
Sure they can...
STOP! STOP! she says "YOU ARE KILLING ME!
This is a place for biocentric Earth advocacy after all. If I can`t say these things about Our Living Earth here - where can I say them?]End of Digression...

Back to Switch Off.
Power Down - Power Off!
Blackout Earth. The Imagining...
The Campaign for Electrical Rest!

I say... Earth advocates...
"Give M.E. [M.other E.arth] - & your "self" [aka "cellf" which is also M.E.] - an electrical break once in a while"
SWITCH OFF.
Clues - Wean your self off centralised apparently infinite grid supply systems habits.
AIM TO CUT DOWN YOUR POWER USE TO A MINIMUM.
Keep moving the minimum down.
Do it a bit at a time.
Get rid of devices & gadgets that use electricity.
Use the devices that you MUST have as sparingly as you can. Get pedantic (or perfectionist)about it!

Dishwasher/T.V./microwave/mobilephone/hair dryer/washing machine/airconditioning/fridge/freezer/hoover/burglaralarm/electrickettle/expressomachine/can-opener/toothbrush/lawn-mower etc etc. are not actually automatic must-haves, strange though that may seem to the affluent.

1. Practice regular voluntary mains power cuts - these raise your awareness rapidly so you change your habits more easily...
2. Use the money you save to buy a state of the art solar panel & battery.
3. Build an exercise bike that charges the battery - for keeping warm on those chilly days when the sun don`t shine!.
4. Eventually - Cut yourself off from the grid! Yeehah!

OK. I`ve been doing this for decades so I am a professional I suppose... But really kiddies. Try it.

My twenty year old son is really into this actual bona fide "straight" peoples campaign... Let`s "Switch Off Sundays!` says the UK Resurgence Magazine... (post article link in here) so I said I`d do what I could to spread the idea...

Another campaign I heard of was French people switching off for five minutes at five to seven in the evening on the first of every month - which spread to Italy & Greece!...

Another switches off on the Fourth of every month - Hey America! Look at London celebrate the Fourth of July 2007 with a superb Blackout! (Put Links to Blackout UK in here...)
Hey World! Watch "Switch Off!" on the 7/4/7 grab the headlines from Al Gores big booming "Save Our Selves" party on the 7/7/7!

Step It Up Black Out London!
If Paris & Sydney can do it - so can you!

Another group promote SWITCHING OFF every evening (or whenever you can) AT DUSK (at the point when you would switch on the lights!.
Put a candle, nightlight or oil lamp in your streetside window instead - to let the outside world know that you are doing it...
Leave the power off as long as you can.
They call it "The Imagining" (LINKS?). This one is NOT ON THE INTERNET (you cannot Google it! - a real lo-impact word of mouth campaign. cf. No Impact Man)

"The Imagining" asks you to spend your switched off flame-lit dusk time IMAGINING how beautiful Life On Earth could be, if the very best of Human Nature & Mother Nature were to triumph...
This last one, "The Imagining" is my personal favourite Switch Off Campaign.
A slow calm quiet candle lit dusk spent filling the mind & heart with positive visions of real creative ecological harmony! All in the name of planet saving. It`s gorgeous. Try it.

Last night I Imagined No Impact Man & All His Friends trying it and hundreds of little twinkly flame lights being spotted all over New York...
It made me cry!

So did the commenters on No Impact Man who vowed to INCREASE their consumption to belittle or overpower his efforts. People like that actually exist? They are in a minority.
Get that tiny flame going in the big cities & LET US SHOW THEM -

There are several other locally co-ordinated mass switch off campaigns that you can join I think...
Find your most local ones & join in.
Do what ever you can.... Join in with one or all of them.
The idea is it makes a cumulative difference all around.
It shows up on Their meters when it is bioregionally co-ordinated.
It shows in your own bills - if you do it often enough! Power down... Power OFF!
Every little bit helps.
Actual outcome?... Less electricity used. Less gadgets demanded. More REAL peace & prosperity for ALL Life...
Try it and see for yourself.

Thankyou for reading M.E.!

All supportive enthusiastic feedback welcome. Edit

Somebody Quarry that Blarney Stone & sell it for use as hard core!
Last night I found "No Impact Man" in New York. Google him.

I read his whole site cover to cover without stopping. I am half-blind & crippled this bright morn - but we`re in a spooky Spring drought & heat wave here in Kerry & I feel URGENT!
My Broadband connection is suddenly working perfectly since I vociferously threatened to cancel it & smash up my computer! Tantrum Yoga works!
Well!
Frankly, that WAS how emotional my powerlessness felt...
Thankyou to all those calm & patient & responsive Eircom Broadband Help Line People...

Now I have to learn some self-disclipine on this damn machine or I`ll be on the net 24/7 [as you electro-lunatics say]
I can see how people have add-diction problems with this net stuff... It IS endless! [until that powercut!]

Edit

[Emily]

NIM- you're my favorite blog.

Kerry- long post... but I'm gonna try it (switching off my power, that is). I track my electricity bill really closely (as a poor, 22-year old, $5 saved on electricity means that I can spend an extra 5 on something great... like yoga class, or avocados), and I bet that I save some money just by powering off during the day while I'm at work. I heard that a typical mobile phone charger uses up something like 90% of its power just being plugged in, while the phone isn't even charging. Crazy, right?

[Sharon]

Is filtered water the same as distilled water?

[Susan Och]

You can brush your teeth with Dr. Bronner's, too. Just a drop.

Why do you never talk about heating your home? Isn't that the biggest energy bill in your life?

[Mandy]

You can wash your hair with just baking soda and apple cider vinegar. It works really well-- better than most "natural" shampoos.
Also, you can buy baking soda in 50 lb. bags from feed/farm stores. Not sure that there are any in NYC, I had to drive an hour to find one and I live in Louisville, KY, but I use so much baking soda cleaning my house, laundry, and body that it's worth not using all those little boxes. Also, the feed store BS is less processed.

[Louise]

Do you know anything about the sanitizing statistics for these home made cleaners? Do they kill roughly the same number of bacteria and germs as commercially sold cleaners? For those people who have suppressed immune systems, would these kinds of cleaners be a safe alternative (in terms of cleaning power)?

[L.L. Barkat]

It sure makes one wonder how people ever got clean before they could pop a plastic shampoo top and pour, eh?

[Ranger X]

Great blog! Have you read the book "Garbage Land" by Elizabeth Royte? She addresses many of the same issues you do on your blog.

I'll be linking to you when I can find a few moments and look forward to reading more.

Good luck!

[vanessa]

I don't know about promoting these ideas for people with suppressed immune systems, Louise. Anyone else have an opinion about that? I mean, the idea (for example) that an AIDS patient would stop taking their medication because the pharmeceutical company doesn't produce their product Green, or because they were tested on animals, is pretty foolish. Or that a parent of a child with severe diabetes would not keep a refrigerator in their home to keep the insulin in because they don't want to waste energy... same thing. So why would an immune suppressed person stop washing appropriately?

I had a fight a few years back with some fellow students at NYU. There was a HUGE protest outside the science building because someone found out that there was research happening on chimps on the top floor of the building, and so students had organized a walk-out, and there were signs and shouting and chants.

Now, don't get me wrong. I HATE animal testing. It hurts my soul to think of another living thing being tortured and agonized so that we, their CLOSE relatives here on planet earth, can have medicines that decrease our own suffering. (or worse yet, mascara that doesn't make our eyes itch.) It doesn't seem fair or right in any way.

But mostly, it just doesn't seem NECESSARY, because it seems like there must be better ways of engineering drugs, etc. without having to use animals to test them on. And so, outside of this protest, I found myself being really angry. I felt really overwhelmed that these kids came from such privileged backgrounds that they were able to afford to pay for classes they were skipping so they could be outside protesting instead.

And so I started fighting with them, and ended up insisting that the better protest would be to march back into their biology and chemistry classes and ANNOUNCE that the course study was moving in a new direction - that the focus of the class was now going to be how to apply what they were learning and the enourmous resources at their disposal to finding new ways to test drugs and chemicals without using animal subjects.

I don't think they wanted to hear what I was saying, and I had to think about why, but now I think it's that they didn't REALLY want to do the work. They wanted that instantaneous self-satisfaction that comes from feeling like you are saving the world when you protest something you feel strongly about, but none of them wanted to ACTUALLY spend the years of intense study and fighting the system from within to find a new and better way of doing things.

This is what I love about NIM!! You guys are really doing the work. I'm sure that after the year is up, there are a lot of things that you will abandon, but in the meantime, you are putting in a lot of hard work, and are influencing a lot of people to do the same.

But people need to be reasonable. I think if you have a child at home with an immune deficiency, or someone who has had an organ transplant, or AIDS, or cancer, or something, throwing away the hand sanitizer and detergents for baking soda is a pretty stupid mistake. I'm sure that if anyone in NIM's family became seriously ill, he would not forgo a hospital stay because they keep the lights on 24/7 and use harsh chemicals to keep flesh-eating bacteria at bay. At the end of the day, I think most of us are just trying to survive and do our best. Most people don't actually need most of the things they THINK they do to survive, but those of us who are healthy and have the energy and spirit to do more SHOULD do more, because the reality is that not everyone can. If they could, people would have all lived into their 80's 150 years ago, and we all know that's not how it was.

I hope this experiment inspires people to do the best they can - I hope it doesn't inspire people to take risks with either their or their family's health. I hope NIM agrees with me on this point.

I know that I try to do my best BECAUSE of my family and their health, and the future health of the planet, with the hope and aspiration that I can make the earth a better, safer, more sustainable place to live.

With that in mind, I am not going to let my child or parent (or myself, for that matter) die of a treatable disease because I don't like the corporate and environmental practices of the company that makes the drug that will keep them alive. This will only kill off the people that care and that could maybe DO something to change that company's practice in the future.

We don't need martyrs for the environment - we need warriors.

[Xtna]

Clean House, Clean Planet is my household cleaning bible. It's easy to find in used book stores.

[Kerri]

Vanessa,
The difference here is that Mr. Beavan is not telling anyone else not to use any products... he's made that clear many times. He's conducting an experiment, and he's setting up the rules for himself and himself alone.

There's a lot I'm taking away from his blog to apply to my own life, and there's also plenty that I'm leaving with him!

Colin- question for you...
I've been phasing into more non-toxic household cleaning solutions for a while, but I still have a virtual warehouse full of stinky chemical stuff (windexes, 409s, etc). What do you recommend to people like me with all this stuff still in my cabinets? Is there a way to safely dispose of it without it ending up in the wrong places? Part of me thinks that the best thing to do is just not waste and use it up, since it's already been purchased, but I just don't know... any suggestions?

[vanessa]

I read the ingredients for making castille soap, and I have a question that I think someone else has already asked - where the heck does lye and baking soda come from????? I am so totally ignorant - I don't know what it is. Is baking soda manufactured from other things? Or are there piles of it in the ground that are waiting to be dug up???? Is it like salt???? I'm totally confused. Now I need an intern...

[Marcia Putnam-Todd]

Hi Colin. I have a recommendation about laundry soap. I have tried many and find that Bio-Kleen is the best. It is as good as Tide or Cheer but it smells better. I found other products were hard on my clothes so this is mild but cleans great. It comes in a box although there is a small plastic bag that holds it. I hope that helps. Hey--do you go to the laundry mat? How does that work?

[anon.]

What about laundry detergent? The homemade recipes I see online don't seem environmentally friendly. Can you make one w/ just Dr. Bronner's and Arm & Hammer washing soda ?

P.S. The Sierra list DOES says that Borax is poisonous and shouldn't be consumed. Not sure I'd want it on my skin...

[Desiree]

Baking soda can be used for laundry soap, face wash, shampoo...toothpaste, etc.

For a large load of not-to-dirty-ish clothes i add 1/2 c baking soda (and 1/2 c vinegar to the rinse cycle).

Once you start using that hand washer though you wont need that much b-soda to clean your clothing though (duh).

For shampoo i mix (depending on hair length) a couple tbsp. baking soda with enough water to make a paste. Massage it onto the "crown" of your head well. Rinse. Pour vinegar/water (1tbsp vinegar - you can use white, btw, to 1 c water) on your hair, rinse.

Voila! Clean :D

Oh, and i know you are only buying "local" (well - clearly not for cleaning products, but whatever...)...but XYLITOL is a sweetner that is GOOD for your teeth. If you use 6-10g a day it will prevent cavaties.

I like to mix 1/2 tsp. xylitol with baking soda...cleans well and protects! So no sacrificing those teeth :D

Oh, it's a natural sweetner, btw. I know it sounds "man made".

[holly]

I have been washing my hair with baking soda and rinsing with lemon juice for almost a year now. I'd never go back to shampoo! I don't know if I'd want to shave my legs with a straight edge razor though!!!! I also don't clean my house with chemicals, I only use baking soda, vinegar and hydrogen peroxide. Oh, I do use a bit of bubble bath to clean my floors, just using up what I already have. Thanks for showing people an alternative to chemicals.

[margarita maldonado]

The Environmental Working Group : Public Watchdog, www.ewg.org, is a nonprofit environmental research organization based in Washington D.C., and they've got great information about toxins in the environment and their perpetrators. They've even ranked companies and products like cosmetics in relation to their environmental friendliness. I know I've learned a lot about what's harmful in the products that I use and have changed my habits accordingly. The EWG is not the only source that I use to make my decisions about what I purchase, but their research and information has helped tremendously.

[Lori V.]

A couple of tidbits.

Colin, you asked about the ethics of the making of your products. I know that the Arm & Hammer company does, indeed, still employ animal testing, so I would probably try to find it in the big bags at the farmer's market like Mandy suggested.

Kerri, as to your question about what to do with your leftover toxic cleaners, I gave all my stuff to the neighbor's maid service. I figure they will continue to buy the toxic stuff, and by my giving them mine, it will at least delay their buying more for a few months. That way, I don't have to use the chemicals anymore, but I don't have to put them in the landfill either.

[SKG]

Thank you!

[Kerri]

Thanks, Lori! That's a good idea.